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Welcome! This is the place where I share my artsy and crafty projects. I am an evolving artist these days ... finding myself enjoying less of the cards and mini albums that I have made for years, and turning to art journaling and more artistic endeavors. I have always enjoyed some craft or other, and some of my earliest memories of my mother helping me make paper dolls and other crafts. I am now in my 60's and finding myself more passionately enjoying creating beautiful things and learning new skills and techniques and products.

While you are here I hope you will find inspiration and ideas for making your own projects, however any images or projects you find here are my personal property and should not be used for your own monetary gain, or for contests or challenges. Thank You!

7/07/2012

October Afternoon - 9 to 5 - Mini Album

You know I've only been making mini albums for a few months, right? I mean, up until earlier this year, I only did cards ... period! But then I made my first mini and I was hooked! And while I've loved every album I've made, none of them are as special as this one ... I mean, I LOVE ♥♥♥♥♥♥ this mini album, and it's all because of the wonderful papers I used!

I've been a fan of October Afternoon for a long time, but this new collection '9 to 5' is just amazing! So much fun to work with, although that may have more to do with my memories from the 70's, 80's, 90's and beyond working in offices than anything. Before I started working on this album, I already knew that I wanted to 'sort of' scraplift an album made by Lindsey. I have been reading the blog that Lindsey shares with her mother, Twyla, for several years, but when I saw this album I was just amazed, and knew I had to give it a shot! And I'm really excited how it came out! Here is the cover of my mini album ...

As usual, this will be a photo heavy post, so I'm going to share all the pages and features first, then I will list all the supplies, tools and such ... so here goes ...

Pages One and Two

Pages one and two show pockets, tags and photo mats. Page one has three tags and two photo mats, and page two has two photo mats and one tag.

Pages Three and Four

Page three is a 'flip mat' for three photos, page four has three tags ... one is decorated with the chipboard high heel from the 'Miscellany' package. I inked it in black and heat embossed it with Ranger black embossing powders. It wasn't 'shiny' enough for me, so I added two layers (drying in between each) of Glossy Accent to really kick it up a bit!

Pages five and six are two of my favorites! I love the houndstooth, and I love the blue and green! I also just L♥VE the 'Secretary's Friend' typewriter ribbon label. Page five has three photo mats, and page six has two. One of the ones on page six ... the 'guest ticket' one came out of my Mama's purse! She was looking through a book of phone numbers and the ticket was stuck in the notebook. It had one phone number written on the back, but I told her she had to write that down somewhere else, because I needed - had to have - that ticket! And doesn't it match the paper perfectly??? Oh, and I think the houndstooth heart, made with the Epiphany Crafts 'Heart 25' Shape Studio tool is a perfect accent!

Pages seven and eight have diagonal pockets, and each pocket holds three photo mats. I used the telephone sticker and added Glossy Accents to give it some shine, and added a 'Tin Pin' to one of the photo mats.

Page Nine has a horizontal pocket, filled with Miscellany bits, as well as a tag. And up across the top I made a pennant banner using the Epiphany Pennant Shape tool, and the Round 25 shape tool. Page 10 has a vertical pocket, with a few photo mats inside, but my favorite part of this page is the silhouette which came from one of the typewriter ribbon labels. I used the Epiphany Scalloped Circle 25 shape tool, and it's such a cute accent!

Page Eleven has a vertical pocket as well, edged with a card stock border, and photo mats made from more of the Miscellany bits. I love the 'ampersand' (&) Tin Pin! Page Twelve has another horizontal pocket with several photo mats, a couple made from the Miscellany bits. I also used another Epiphany Scalloped Round 25 shape tool on the corner of one of the mats.

Back Cover

I used scraps of coordinating ribbons and trims to decorate the binding.

Guest Check - My Mama's purse .... she had a phone # written on the back and I pretty much 'made' her re-write the # on something else and give me the check. The 'distressing' is real!

Brown ink - Stampabilities

Tape Measure Trim - Tim Holtz

Ribbon and trims - miscellaneous from my stash

Tools:

The Cinch - We R Memory Keepers

Cricut Expression and Plantin Schoolbook cartridge

Epiphany Shape Studio Tools - Round 25, Scalloped 25, and Pennant

Fiskars 'Apron Lace' Border Punch

Carl PRT-100 Rotary Cutter and 'squiggle' and 'colonial' blades

Martha Stewart / EK Success Paper Trimmer

Cuttlebug

Spellbinders Nestabilities 'Scallooped Circles Small'

Scissors, ruler, craft knife

This album was so much fun, and even exciting to make, I was joyful, bordering on giddy as I was working on it, because I knew it was going to be something special! For the last month or so, this album has been on display at my LSS, Altered Angel in Alpharetta, GA, and apparently it has gotten a lot of interest. I met one lady at Scrapbook Expo who told me she had made pictures of all of it and bought everything so she could make one exactly like it! They say imitation is the truest form of flattery, and I appreciate her telling me how much she liked this album.